Medora — Marquis's Lost Fortune
Uncover the Marquis de Mores' hidden fortune buried amid his failed empire. Decode clues from his chateau, statue, and ruins to claim the forgotten legacy before it vanishes forever.
📱 1 to 10 phones · 1 team per phone · Independent codes
In 1883, the flamboyant Marquis de Mores arrived in the Badlands, founding Medora with grand visions of a beef empire
Medora — Marquis's Lost Fortune
You are a Parisian financial investigator, dispatched in 1886 to Dakota Territory.
Your mission is to investigate the mysterious bankruptcy of the de Mores empire. You arrive in Medora, the
Follow the trail of the Marquis de Mores, French nobleman who built a cattle empire in the Dakota Badlands in 1883.
A game, a guided tour and a heritage guide — all in one
You're not just buying an escape game. You're carrying a living guide — historical anecdotes, forgotten legends, key monuments, hidden architecture — unfolding as you go.
At each stop, places ordinary guides miss — secret façades, sculpted crests, alleys steeped in history.
Every riddle is rooted in a real historical fact or local legend. You leave with dozens of stories to tell.
Learn to read buildings — flamboyant Gothic, Baroque, Art Deco — like a real art historian, while having fun.
Walk through the city like a novel's character — every alley becomes a stage, every square a theatre.
A voice walks with you at every step, tells the story of each place, reads clues, adds a cinematic feel.
Keep access to the guide & game for 1 year. Come back any time, share it with friends.
« You will not leave this city the way you entered it. »
How does it work?
Explore the city on foot solving puzzles based on real historical facts. No locked room — the city is your playground.
No app to download. Play directly from your browser. Guided step by step, at your own pace.
One purchase per phone is enough. Play with family, friends or as a couple — everyone participates.
Point your phone at the façade: a historical character appears and speaks to you in your language. Golden letters magically write themselves on the wall to reveal the puzzle answer.
Stuck? Progressive personalised hints. The character repeats the puzzle on demand — at your own pace.
French, English, German, Spanish, Italian + 27 other languages auto-translated by AI.
Want to go deeper?
Places tied to your adventure — optional entries, totally up to you · per person
The story that haunts this land
Medora begins its history in 1883 when Antoine-Amédée-Marie-Vincent Manca de Vallombrosa, Marquis de Mores, arrives in this desolate valley of the Little Missouri River. This 25-year-old French nobleman, Saint-Cyr graduate, comes to build a vertical empire: slaughterhouse, 1,500-acre ranch, railway line to ship refrigerated meat to Chicago. The De Mores Memorial Park, starting point of your investigation at 201 E River Road, today bears the historical markers of this excessive ambition that transformed an empty territory into an industrial town.
The Chateau de Mores State Historic Site reveals the scope of aristocratic dreams. This 26-room summer residence, built in 1883 on heights overlooking the Little Missouri River, still houses the Marquis's original furniture. Preserved by the North Dakota State Historical Society since 1936, the château testifies to the lavish lifestyle Mores maintained 2,000 km from Paris. From the windows, you survey the 1,500-acre ranch where 3,000 head of cattle grazed, first stage of an industrial chain revolutionary for its time.
The Little Missouri River forms the western boundary of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and flows through Medora defining the Badlands scenery. This water access decided the Marquis de Mores to establish his ranch here in 1883. Theodore Roosevelt hunted and ranched along these banks between 1883 and 1886, becoming the French nobleman's neighbor and rival. The pedestrian trail from De Mores Park reaches the riverbank in 1 km, where both men negotiated their territorial disputes that nearly led to a duel.
The Northern Pacific Railway Depot, built in 1884, remains the heart of Medora's economic adventure. This restored station, located 800 meters from De Mores Park, shipped the Marquis's cattle to Eastern markets between 1883 and 1886. When the Northern Pacific Railroad established this stop, Mores saw the opportunity to bypass Chicago intermediaries by delivering refrigerated meat directly. The collapse of his enterprises in 1886 also marked this station's decline, now home to the Medora Musical exhibits.
Your investigation in the Badlands leaves you facing the mystery of this fortune squandered in three years. Between 1883 and 1886, the Marquis de Mores invested the equivalent of 30 million current dollars in this Far West industrial utopia. Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin, built in 1884 one mile from Medora center, reminds us that the future American president directly witnessed this meteoric rise and fall. You leave with the certainty that Medora still bears, engraved in its stones and rails, the broken dreams of an aristocrat who wanted to revolutionize the American cattle industry.
The Route
8 stages through the city
The gameplay: AR, camera, hidden clues
At each stop, open your phone camera: an augmented reality character appears on the façade and speaks your language. Hunt the clue — it materializes as golden letters on the real wall or floats in front of you. When you find it, the phone vibrates, an AR chest opens and reveals your answer fragment. 8 stops, 8 clues to find with the camera, 1 final code.
The stops on your route are a surprise. You'll discover them one by one, guided by your phone, starting from the meeting point.
How does it work with a group?
One phone = one team. Pick the number at checkout (1 to 10).
Solo, or a group sharing the screen. One team, one code.
Family, couple, or 2-3 teams competing. Each phone has its own code and its own score.
Friends, bachelor/bachelorette, small office outing — each their own code, each plays at their own pace. Tiered pricing then €6 flat per phone from the 6th.
- ✓All codes are independent — play at the same time OR separately, each team advances at its own pace.
- ✓Leaderboard between your teams + global game leaderboard — each score appears in the public ranking.
- ✓More than 10 phones or need a personalized quest? Discover custom tours.
Ready to live this adventure?
Get my code · 12€No calendar booking. Code sent immediately by email.
🔒 Secure payment · Code in 5 min · Free cancellation
Practical info
Why this route?
Western Pioneers
Follow in the footsteps of iconic figures who shaped the history of the American frontier.
Wild Landscapes
Explore the Badlands, a land of fierce beauty and hidden intrigues.
Historical Investigation
Unravel the ambitions and conflicts of a visionary aristocrat in a ruthless Wild West.
The Badlands don't keep all their secrets.
Will you unravel the enigma of the French aristocrat?
9 features nobody else has
OddballTrip combines gamified play, augmented reality and AI. All our competitors deliver 1 or 2 of these angles. We deliver all 5.
AR treasure chest
A golden chest floats in front of the monument. Tap → opening animation → reveals a secret message.
AR narrator character
Point your phone at the façade: a knight, witch, monk, sailor, detective or ghost appears full-screen and speaks to you in your language with their dedicated ElevenLabs voice (each character has their own unique voice) — your living guide.
Magic golden letters
At the puzzle climax, golden letters magically write themselves on the real wall — that's the puzzle answer. An unforgettable visual effect.
Written + audio narration
Every puzzle available as text AND voice-over: read at your own pace or listen eyes-free while walking. Great in groups and for accessibility.
360° radar + vibration
A mini-radar shows the target even behind you, and the phone vibrates when you aim in the right direction.
Heritage storytelling
Every puzzle weaves in real historical facts (architecture, era, anecdotes). You learn by playing — like a gamified audioguide.
Progressive AI hints
3 levels of AI-generated help: vibe → where to look → answer format. You're never stuck.
AR selfie memento
At the end of the game, capture a selfie with OddballTrip banner + mascot, shareable on Instagram, TikTok.
Zero app to install
PWA technology: open the link, it plays in your browser. Same quality as an app, no App Store hassle.
Frequently asked questions
Q01Do I need to download an app?
No, never. You get a link, you click, it plays in your browser. That's the point of a PWA: same as an app, without the hassle.
Q02Does it work offline?
GPS yes (handled by your phone). Maps yes (tiles cached). AI and hints need an intermittent 4G connection.
Q03How long does a game take?
1 h 30 to 2 h 30 depending on your pace. The timer runs but only for the leaderboard — you play at your own tempo.
Q04What happens if I'm stuck?
You get 3 levels of hints per puzzle (increasing penalty). If truly stuck, you can skip the step (45-min penalty but you keep going).
Q05What's the age range?
From 12 without an adult, from 6 with an adult reading puzzles. Works for families, couples, friend groups, companies.
Q06What if my city isn't in the catalogue?
Pre-register or contact us — we'll email you as soon as your city is live.
Q07What is augmented reality exactly?
Point your phone at the façade: a historical character appears full-screen and speaks to you in your language. At the puzzle climax, golden letters magically write themselves on the real wall — that's your answer. After each puzzle solved, a treasure chest floats in front of you. Seeing is believing.
Avis des aventuriers
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Your turn to play
Follow the trail of the Marquis de Mores, French nobleman who built a cattle empire in the Dakota Badlands in 1883.
1 purchase = 1 phone. Play several on the same device.
No calendar booking. Code sent immediately by email.
🔒Secure payment · Code in 5 min · Free cancellation
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